Bar LRS upgrade discussed
The Florida Bar’s Lawyer Referral Service is in need of a redesign and could evolve into a statewide system to help address the state’s legal access issues.
John Stewart, chair of the Bar’s Technology Committee, told the Florida Commission on Access to Civil Justice in September that a more modern online Bar referral service could be tied into the access commission’s proposed statewide portal. Stewart said this is an opportunity to develop a triage gateway system to provide a seamless connection between the consumer and the right Florida attorney. The system would bring together all forms of lawyer referral assistance programs under one online portal with The Florida Bar brand.
Renée Thompson, chair of the Bar’s Communications Committee, said the initiative is in response to the Young Lawyers Division’s desire to help on the access front with a redesign of the current system.
“The Florida Bar has been in the lawyer referral business for quite a long time; however, the system that we developed initially is complementary to others,” Stewart explained, adding the Bar does not offer services on a statewide basis, but only to those communities not served by a local bar LRS.
YLD President Gordon Glover said if done right, a retooled Bar LRS could help hook up Florida lawyers with a huge underserved market — from those needing pro bono assistance, to the small business owner, to the middle-class family that simply can’t afford a lawyer.
He said Internet giants Avvo, Rocket Lawyer, and Legal Zoom are already tapping into what he says is a “$45 billion” legal market that remains untouched by The Florida Bar.
Stewart added large lawyer referral companies on the Web are strictly interested in making money, but that talks are underway to see if there is an opportunity for a collaborative approach.
“They already built the model and they already do it really well. The question is: Is there a way that works for the Bar and the private company?” Stewart said.
Glover noted one of the bigger issues right now with the Bar’s LRS is the time it takes to connect someone with an attorney because most people are calling the LRS by telephone, while several online marketplaces operate more quickly.
“You have…Avvo Advisor, where for 15 minutes, it’s $40, and [consumers] can speak with an attorney. They are immediately connected. The lawyer is supposed to call the person back within 15 minutes,” Glover said.
As far as how a revamped online portal would help alleviate the state’s access to justice problems, Stewart said of a new LRS, “We can build it any way we want to.”
“The different legal aid corporations would be patched into the system,” he explained. “If it was purely a pro bono case, and it was in Leon County, [consumers] would be routed automatically to that place.
“Our goal is to have only one portal so that when a consumer Googles ‘divorce’ in a county…there is a system that asks them basic questions, and that would route them to the right place, so it would be seamless,” he said. “Based upon the questions they answered, they would be routed to the right place, whether it be a low-cost panel, or whether it be a regular attorney, or legal aid/pro bono option.”
Thompson said the redesign team has reached out to local bars that operate their own referral services to get their input, “and have them help us build a system that works for their membership.”
Access Commission member Judge Robert Hilliard, chair of the Technology Subcommittee, will work with the Bar to explore moving the project forward.
The Bar’s Lawyer Referral Service was created in 1972 and in 2013-14 made 74,754 referrals, of which only 10 percent were made online. In addition to referrals, Bar LRS staff answers approximately 20,000 calls annually for general assistance.
